See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ANDREW PIERCE, DAILY MAIL CONSULTANT EDITOR AND COLUMNIST Published: 01:01 BST, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 01:28 BST, 8 June 2026
He’s a key figure in one of Britain’s richest – and most publicity averse – property companies.Now I can reveal billionaire businessman David Pears, one of three brothers behind the William Pears Group, is set to become the Tory Party’s first £1million donor of the year.A leading figure within Britain’s Jewish community and a trustee of the family foundation which has given £500million to charity, the 58-year-old has worked in the family business since 1987.Under the arrangement, Pears will contribute £250,000 every quarter to Conservative coffers. David Pears (the property tycoon set to become the Tory Party’s first £1million donor of the year) is 'a huge admirer of Kemi,’ whispers Andrew Pierce's mole in Tory HQDavid and his siblings, Mark and Sir Trevor, eschew publicity. Their company, which owns thousands of properties, has been the target of repeated accusations about the way the agents who manage its properties deal with tenants.That hasn’t stopped the Tories celebrating David’s support. ‘He’s a huge admirer of Kemi,’ whispers my mole in Tory HQ, ‘and a very successful businessman. He’s a big catch.’Sir Keir Starmer has accused US Vice President JD Vance of interfering in British politics after he spoke out about the murder of Henry Nowak. Is this the same Keir Starmer whose Labour Party sent nearly 100 activists to the US to help with Kamala Harris’s doomed campaign against Donald Trump?I did it Nigel's wayThe BBC has denied banning Nigel Farage from appearing on Desert Island Discs because it would upset woke staffers.But Farage has found an alternative outlet. Nick Ferrari from LBC will take up the mantle and quiz the Reform UK leader about his musical tastes.His favourite song? My Way by Frank Sinatra.It’s becoming increasingly clear that former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has the memory of a goldfish. She claims she was unaware of her husband Peter Murrell embezzling the SNP of £400,000 – despite their home filling up with luxury coffee machines, stationery and even a new £81,000 Jaguar I-Pace. When, in 2021 she appeared before a Scottish parliamentary inquiry into ‘a malicious and concerted attempt to damage the reputation’ of her predecessor Alex Salmond, she had no recollection of events on 50 different occasions.Davey's in the doo-doo Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has learnt the hard way that negotiating with children is even tougher than with politicians.He gave in to his 12-year-old daughter Ellie’s demands for a kitten – as long as she agreed to empty its litter tray. Minutes later she was at the computer writing out a contract with an italic font to look like a legal document, he tells the Walking the Dog podcast. ‘We signed the Kitten Contract, about how she will look after the kitten. Guess who ends up doing the litter tray?’It was a slip of the tongue that will never be forgotten: in 2018, Radio 4 Today programme host Justin Webb mispronounced then health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s surname by replacing a crucial consonant. Hunt launched his book Can We Be Rich Again? – serialised in the Daily Mail at the weekend – at the Institute of Directors last week and who was interviewing him but Webb? The broadcaster acknowledged his infamous slip-up, joking: ‘This is very brave, with Jeremy’s history with the Today programme.’ Happy to report no verbal landmines this time.Reform prepared Makerfield by-election candidate Robert Kenyon for BBC Question Time by practising with a full mock panel, reports Guido Fawkes. A Reform councillor even filled the role of Fiona Bruce. Fat good it did him: Bruce made mincemeat of the hapless Kenyon.
